TOP TEN reasons why Lean won't work in our industry: Reason #10 - Piecework

I asked "Why not LEAN in the greenhouse" in my last post. In upcoming posts I'm going to give the top ten reasons - other than "we're different" (which I hear plenty of, but it is too lame to consider at length).

I hope you'll consider these and respond with comments.

Reason number 10. "We pay piecework; if we paid by the hour we'd be dead."

This is a fascinating topic - when we bring people from other ornamental horticulture operations to see us they are amazed that we DON'T pay piece work. Why don't we? What does it have to do with Lean?

It's a long answer (you could write a BOOK) but in a nutshell we measure PROCESS not PEOPLE.

We set out to standardize work so we get the results we want in a predictable way, and we have a stable foundation to improve from. Given stable work processes, we can staff to get the work done and know that our employees will have full week, but not work overtime. This honors them and their needs, building trust and respect. We can track progress against takt time (how frequently we need to get something done to meet demand) without racing ahead. We expect consistent performance, productivity and quality from everyone. Most important from a process perspective, is that given clear workable standards, we can clearly see problems and opportunities to improve. If someone has a better (faster, easier, higher yield, etc.) way, we want to learn it and share it. It respects the fact that inputs and circumstances (individual, workplace, supplies and material) can vary and lead to varying results. This variation then becomes the subject of a PROBLEM SOLVING CONVERSATION, not a contest over incentive or piece pay.

Contrast this with piecework, or highly incentivized individual performance measures:

Typically, quality suffers or you need to institute extensive/intensive measures to inspect for quality and discard the defects you discover. Commonly, safety suffers also, as people race for their incentive. Again, policing for safe practice becomes the alternative to designing safe work. People will game the system to get their rate or incentive - more policing required, more defects to inspect out after the work is done! If someone has a better way, what is their incentive to share it? If the days work is a zero sum game (a fixed number of units), then by helping someone else they will only hurt themselves. This does not build an organization that is driven to continuous improvement.

So, you were right, piecework is not compatible with lean. But does that mean don't do lean? I don't think so. If all you want is short term results based on exploitive relationships, sure. But if you are in it for the long haul, want to delivery the best possible quality products and services, develop employees, reduce costs, and become more responsive to customer and market demands, then challenge yourself to make the other decision: embrace lean thinking and find a path out of piecework to a more collaborative, respectful relationship with employees. It's good for you and your employees and lays a foundation for continuous improvement for what you do for your customers.

This is far from an exhustive treatment of this question. See Toyota Talent, by Liker and Meier, for an in depth look at people in lean organizations and how we use standard work to engage, develop and improve.

Why not LEAN in the greenhouse?

One of my good friends likes to ask people who are dragging their feet with a lean implementation "can you explain to me why you would NOT want to be more competetive?"

There is usually not any good answer to that one, but when we ask why not learn from the best and most competetive companies and pursue a lean implementation, there are all kinds of answers. The most common one is "Our business is different." Jeez, we grow plants, after all!!!

One of my early teachers loved this one. "Let's see," he'd say, "you take raw materials and use labor and capital to convert them to finished goods, you ship them to customers and then bill them. Yup, you're pretty unique!"

It is a brilliant perspective because it makes it so simple: If you are creating value, there are opportunities for interuption in the flow of value. We call that WASTE. It costs money and it wastes peoples' spirit. Lean is all about learning to see and eliminate those wastes. It is just as real in a greenhouse as in an auto assembly plant - it is just that we in the green industry haven't been compelled to cope with the same competetive pressures as some others in the past. Not any more.

So, as Andy steps aside, I'm going to try to step in and help guide the way and provoke some change. We've been at this for a few years now and have seen quality and delivery schedules improve as costs drop and safety and morale improve. Kind of a winning combination! There is a lot to think about and alot to learn but most important is to START.

If you're not moving forward, you can't steer. 50% improvement today is better than 90% in six months.

I'll be back with ideas, examples, and stray thoughts as often as I can. Stay tuned!

Change

Hello! In case you haven't noticed, I haven't posted for a while.
That's because I've left the horticulture industry and moved on to another job and industry. I'm working for an incredible company, BAE Systems, as a LeanSigma Specialist. It's an intensively challenging and rewarding job.
I'll miss the many friendships I developed in the floriculture industry, and I wish you all well. Please stay in touch.
Also, as for the future of the Lean Greenhouse- keep watching. I've opened the door for some very gifted individuals, who know the industry and have implemented Lean in growing environments, to post contributions to this site. I think you'll really enjoy their posts.
God bless,
Andy

Lean in the Hebrew's Cafe

I go to the most amazing Church in the world. Not only is the content of the Church amazing and life-changing, just the organizational and functional structure is amazing.

We have 3 identical services every Sunday morning. Why? Because our worship center can only hold about 2,000 people at a time!

Every week hundreds of members and guests stream by our coffee shop- the Hebrew's Cafe.

The manager, Greg, and I Scoped the purpose, processes, & people involved in the cafe processes.

We decided we wanted to be able to minister to more people by

• reducing cycle time
• increasing throughput
• reducing transactional waste
• and providing a quality product to guests and members.

So this Saturday, we had a mini-Kaizen (change-event), with Greg, the process owner, and team members Ann, Cathy, Janene. This was one on-fire, innovative team!

One of the biggest headache issues- is when a Cafe Team Member has to leave the Cafe to fill up to 16 coffee pots. We counted 100 steps in the process- none of it adding value to the customer's product or experience. By changing the coffee supply location and layout, and creating a coffee pot cart with visual instructions, the cycle time for coffee refill should be greatly reduced.

Also, the team found that by moving the cash register over a few inches, they increased the workspace at the nearby sink, and put the cash register operator closer to the highest volume product- cookies! This should reduce the amount of time it takes to perform a cookie transaction, thereby decreasing the wait time for the customer. It frees the operator's time, it frees the customers time, thereby increasing the opportunity for a conversation.

I'll let you know how things go. Better yet, stop by and see for yourself. As a matter of fact, post a reply and I'll meet you for a cup of coffee at the Hebrew's Cafe at McGregor Baptist Church.

Chrysanthemum Germplasm Bank Kaizen

Wow!

What a busy three days! We did a kaizen in the germplasm bank. It's an amazing process in-and-of-itself, but looking at the process through the lens of Lean really turbo-boosted the whole experience.

We did our training, with the Lean Lego factory, a couple of weeks earlier. Then Cecilia and I worked through a Pre-Scoping & a Scoping process.

I've got to thank Beau Keyte for his excellent training and insight into the Scoping process. It really helped us bring the voice of the customer into the kaizen, and laid the ground work for customer driven specifications. More on that in a later post.

We developed a current state Value Stream Map (VSM) of the process. I had video taped a few key elements of the process earlier, so we were able to observe the process with up to 11 people in the spacious conference room. We would not have been able to cram 11 people around a hood.

Then we walked through the Value Stream Questions, and developed the Future State VSM, prioritized our 10 projects, and broke up into team to attack the problems.

• One team worked on developing Standard Work for the retrieval process.
• Another team worked on work station design (cell flow) under the hood.
• And the third team worked on defining storage locations in the cooler layout.

This was one of the best teams I've ever worked with. They grasped key Lean concepts and were able to make some insightful, powerful application to this lab process. Great job Team! And thanks Cecilia & Mary for all your guidance and support.

The DNA of the Toyota Production System

Here's some of what Pascal Dennis shared in the "Building a Sustainable Lean Culture Workshop." It's great material that lays the ground work for good management, team dynamic, and leading-edge greenhouse application. (If you get a ever get an opportunity to be in the workshop- it's worth it's weight in gold.)

Jim Womack says we are on the verge of the 3rd Age of Lean.

• 1st Age: 1900-1980. Age of Discovery.
• 2nd Age: 1980-to present. Age of Lean Tools.
• 3rd Age: TBD. Age of Management Mental Models

This 3rd age will call for management to create new mental models about their

• Business Purpose
• Business Processes
• Business Performance

Lean is more than the implementation of tools. Steven Spears, in his Harvard Business Review article "Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System" gives insightful analysis into what really makes Toyota tick.

As a matter-of-fact, 6 out of 10 companies that try to implement Lean fail. Largely because they try to replicate the tools, instead of changing mental models to to understand the DNA in the underlying system.

So here's a thumbnail of the DNA:

The Four Rules

Rule 1 - Standards

• All work (including support processes) is highly specified as to content, sequence, timing, & outcomes.
• People who actually do the work, design the work
• The work has self-tests built-in

Rule 2 - Connections

Customer-Supplier connections are direct, binary, & self-diagnostic

Rule 3 - Pathways
Pathways (the Value-Stream) for products & services are

• simple,
• pre-defined, and
• self-diagnostic

Rule 4 - Improvement

Our Problem Solving approach is

• structured,
• standardized
• self-testing
• occurs by those who do the work with capable teachers

The Four Capabilities

1. We design work so that problems are readily apparent
2. We swarm problems when they occur
3. We share learning laterally
4. Leaders take responsibility for developing their people.
   
   

Learning Lean from a Lean Master

Well I can't believe I'm here. I'm in Pittsburgh, attending a set of Lean Workshops presented by LEI. And here I am with the one and only Pascal Dennis. Pascal leads the nation on his ability to communicate Lean (he worked for Toyota for many years.) He has also written several excellent books on Lean.

Pascal facilitated a workshop on "Creating a Sustainable Lean Culture." He walked us through the Toyota DNA and made it crystal clear. My mind is ready to explode, so I'll have to get home and digest the content, of which I'll share more later. Wow, this stuff is amazing!

The Jaws of Lean

Did you ever imagine that the Lean effort of Ford & Toyota would affect the Emergency Fire and Rescue industry?
Check out Sturdy Cars Make it Harder for Rescuers.

The Ford Fusion's reinforced steel construction probably saved the lives of the 18-year-old driver and his 16-year-old passenger. But Roberts said it gave his Hillsborough County Fire Rescue crew fits as they tried to free them last November.
Because hydraulic cutters couldn't shear the roof posts, rescue workers had to turn to heavy-duty electric saws, replacing blade after blade as they dulled on the rugged material.
"It was just beating the snot out of the tools," adding minutes and delaying medical treatment, Roberts said.

"We build more fire stations, we make faster fire trucks, we've got helicopters to get you to the hospital," said Roberts, an expert who teaches extrication to colleagues around Florida. "But what's slowing us down are these vehicles that are harder for us to get into."

"Mike Ader, a volunteer firefighter in Rockville, Md., recalled the layered-steel roof post from a 2008 Toyota Camry that wouldn't budge under the blades of a hydraulic cutter after a broadside crash Jan. 2. The patient, whose injuries were serious but not life-threatening, finally had to be maneuvered around the post.
Ader used two types of saws and numerous blades to remove the post after the patient was removed. The department quickly decided to buy a new, more powerful cutter.

Lean drives positive change in relationships with customers and vendors. As a matter of fact, it creates new types of relationships.

But having the effect across industries- now that's real change!

Making Work Visible

The Spray Shed Team is doing a great job!

This week we did a "mock up" of a control board. We took the next day's work order spray cards (from Tiger Jill), and simulated the sorting and grouping efforts the Spray Team does daily. But instead of creating piles of paper, we laid the paper out flat, on a large poster board.

Then we created row and column headings. Column headings were hourly increments, and field location. Row headings were Team Member name, and chemical.


Here's how the team dynamic unfolded: Everyone had a basic common knowledge of the process. But there were things Team Members knew, that management didn't. And there were things management knew, but Team Members had not thought of. There were things that some Team Members knew, that other Team Members didn't. Together, they put together all the elements and activities of the process. It was awesome!


The board makes the work visible. Simply look at the board- it communicates all the spray types and chemicals. It communicates schedule- if it's 2pm and a Team Member still has cards in his 12:30 slot, the entire time will know something is amiss. It shows work progression. It allows for the prioritization of work. It has the potential to control how the work is released, to accommodate scheduling, rescheduling, and cross functional issues. It lays the foundation for making the 7 deadly wastes visible and eliminating them.


Now we are setting up a sturdier board on plywood, which will actually drive the spray process. The group dynamic and institutional knowledge build is still going on, so the plywood will give us the ability to design and experiment, with the board design and work flow, on the fly.

If we see as one, we can know as one, and we can act as one.

"Respect for People" is a Pillar of Lean- so DON'T WATERBOARD THE EMPLOYEES!

A foundational pillar of Lean is "respect for people" or "respect for humanity."
If a company has product flow, but treats employees poorly- it has fake flow, becasue it does not respect people.
Have you ever heard of the 7 deadly forms of waste?

1. Overproduction
2. Waiting
3. Transportation
4. Over-Processing
5. Inventory
6. Motion
7. Defects

Actually, that list of 7 is an Americanized version of Toyota's definition of wastes.

Toyota considers waste in 3 categories

• Muda - activity that adds no value to the customer (the 7 deadly forms of waste)
• Mura - Unevenness in activity (not driven by the customer)
• Muri - Undue stress on People and Machines

Can you imagine- a form a waste that focuses exclusively on the impact on employees! Employees have the process knowledge. They are the ones that have the answers to all the process problems a company has.

Here's an idea you may want to put on your checklist in order to show your respect for humanity- Don't waterboard the employees!

Check out this article in the Salt Lake Tribune:

The suit claims that Hudgens' team leader, Joshua Christopherson, asked for volunteers in May for "a new motivational exercise," which he did not describe. Hudgens, who was 26 at the time, volunteered in order to "prove his loyalty and determination," the suit claims. Christopherson led the sales team to the top of a hill near the office and told Hudgens to lie down with his head downhill, the suit claims. Christopherson then told the rest of the team to hold Hudgens by the arms and legs. Christopherson poured water from a gallon jug over Hudgens' mouth and nostrils - like the interrogation strategy known as "waterboarding" - and told the team members to hold Hudgens down as he struggled, the suit alleges. "At the conclusion of his abusive demonstration, Christopherson told the team that he wanted them to work as hard on making sales as Chad had worked to breathe while he was being waterboarded," the suit alleges.

Ha! What a hoot. The suit also claims this employee was singled out for not meeting Sales performance goals (I never knew the Sales Team could have it so rough!)

This is one reason I'm glad to be in the Horticulture industry. As a whole our industry was built on values you would find on a family farm, and has a high degree of respect for others. I've not heard of any greenhouses waterboarding their employees!

Lean Cool Gadgets

I love Lean Cool gadgets.
Gadgets are often good.
But to be Lean, they have to reduce waste.
And to be Cool, they have to so simple, or so profound, they change the way you do a job forever.

A Lean Cool gadget is often a simple, everyday tool, that we would normally never consider, applied to simplify a process. They come about, not because we were searching for gadgets, but as a result of a long hard team improvement effort. They are the by-product of effective kaizen.

Here are some Lean Cool Gadgets we've developed over the years. As I looked at our kaizen history, I realized we are producing more Lean Cool Gadgets now, and very few early on. Hmmmm....

The Lean Cool Gadgets on this video slideshow, have been developed by my colleagues- the hard working, dedicated, Lean Thinking men and women on the Yoder Production Team.

The Power of VSMing

Nothing beats the power of a
Value Stream Map (VSM).

It's really a combination of tools:

• a process map


• an inventory tracking chart


• a timing chart


• a project management tool

Each of these contributions is significant, but it's greatest effect is really team-building. Each member of the VSM team, sees their core process, the same way, at the same time. It produces incredible synergy, which marks the beginning of team members starting to move a common direction in their efforts, toward a common goal.

This map, as you can see, was done by hand, with the spray team, right in the spray shed. Folks passing by stopped to see what was happening, and often stayed to give input. People love talking about their processes, (and as management, we should love to hear about it.)


You might not be able to see it as well, but the process blocks in pencil, are planning activities.


The best part- team members defined each of their activities from the customers' perspective: Each activity was labeled:

• green- value added,
• yellow- non-value added but necessary,
• red- waste.

Labeling each activity is exciting because team members are learning to see their activities from a customer perspective. Seeing a distinction between hard work and activities that have been developed over the years vs. what the customers values is the beginning of real process improvement.

The map above is the current state process. When then walked through the Value Stream Questions to define our improvements, and will soon build a future state VSM. The VSM will act as a baseline, or skeleton, upon which all or future measurements and controls will rest.

VSM - what a tool!

The Power of Batch Size Reduction at the Zoo

Lean Thinkers leverage the power of batch size reduction. I marvel that such a simple concept could have such powerful application.

I was reminded of it's power when my second-grade son, the night before his field trip to the Tampa Zoo, told me he already had his buddy for the trip.

Instead of taking a single approach where one parent or teacher is in charge of 14 children, in addition, each child had their own accountability partner.
(I know everyone does this on trips, but when it involves one of your own young'ins, it takes on new meaning.)

What's the probability of a teacher in charge of 14 students finding out quickly that something is amiss with one of the children?- all thing being equal, it's 7%, as she has to split her attention among 14 students.

How sensitive can an accountability partner on a field trip be to the status of his partner? 50%!

So batch size reduction makes defects (a missing buddy) more visible sooner, conversely, it helps to ensure quality (by creating 2 parallel systems- teacher/student accountability system, AND student/buddy system.)

The whole approach made me, as a customer of the school, very satisfied.

So how does this apply to a Greenhouse operation?

Let's take something simple, like loading a cart with potted plants, to transfer them to another location.

Do you fill the cart all the way up before you transport?

• Why?
• How many people are waiting at the next operation while you fill the entire cart?
• How many customers will miss the opportunity to see your product while you fill the entire cart?
• What if you loaded half a cart, then transported to your internal or external customer?

We often fill the entire cart because we think it's more convenient for us. But Lean tells us to focus on the customer. The voice of the customer should determine how many pots we load before we transport. And often the voice of the customer often calls for more frequent deliveries, at a reduced batch size.

What is Kanban?

If you're wrestling with the concept of "Kanban," check this out this Toyota company video.

Click on the "Just-In-Time" tab.

Vendor Kanban Simulation on 6" Pots

We are working on setting up a vendor kanban on 6" pots.

What is a kanban, you ask? "Kanban" is a Japanese word for "signal."

The traditional approach to ordering and managing production supplies promotes chaos, and is wasteful and costly.
Why?

• Inventory counts are expensive, inaccurate, time consuming, and are frustrating for your most skilled employees to manage.
• Inventory is compared to forecast, and orders are placed. The forecast is always wrong.
• We purchase to lower transportation cost, and price per unit. The result is a huge cash outlay with a huge batch of inventory that clogs the production floor.

Enter the kanban!

A kanban system uses visual controls to trigger reorders. It's usually a visual management system, where real consumption drives replenishment. Triggers and inventory levels are calculated based on a kanban formula.

So how does one effectively communicate the benefit and functionality of this new materials management system?

Legos!

John, our excellent Team Lead on this project, and I, were simulating the flow of material with Legos one day. It makes a great training tool. And As John says, "If you can't do it with Legos, you can't do it in real life."
As we worked through the simulation, we found that we would often forget some of the material flow. So I set up a grid on 11x17 paper to help us properly simulate our kanban material flow.

There are 5 row headers on the left side of the paper. The first is a date scale. The second is "Consumed Pallet", the third is "Kanban Card dropped?" the fourth is "Purhasing Orders" and the fifth is "Incoming Shipment." Using these row headers, we can simulate all the activity occurring in the kanban. The simulation tells us if our calculations are correct (do we run out of inventory, or does our inventory spiral up out of control?)

You can see our kanban footprint in the upper right of the picture. We actually have this pattern marked out on the potting shed floor now.

I've tinkered with simulation software (like Simul8) on this kind of thing, and it's good for running scenarios. But Legos win hand's down for teaching and getting everyone involved. It's a great learning tool.

Lean and the Environment

The EPA has allot to say on Lean and the Environment.

Here are a few highlights from their "The Lean and Environment Toolkit."

• "Business Case for Integrating Lean & Environment."


• "The table below lists environmental impacts that are associated with the deadly wastes targeted by Lean methods...."


• "10 Common Manufacturing Processes With Environmental Opportunities"


• Integrating Root Cause for Environmental Waste in your Value Stream Mapping Efforts.


• How to "Incorporate EHS into 6S Inspections."

This looks like a gold mine of material, and starts with simple, meaningful steps.
I'll be sorting and blogging through it over the next few weeks.

Andy

From 5S to 6S to 7S!

Okay, it's starting to get crazy!

The 5S's were good and stable- a great approach to creating a visually driven workplace that reduces waste. Remember?:

1. Sort
2. Set in order
3. Shine (& inspect)
4. Standardize
5. Sustain

Then someone had the idea of creating a 6th "S" for "Safety." And that was a good idea.

The LeanDirections newsletter tells how one company reduced accidents through a 6S approach:

One company learned the hard way that lean without safety doesn't work. Here is how they finally reduced waste by integrating ergonomics:An outdoor power equipment manufacturer, which strongly adhered to lean manufacturing using 5S and kaizen methods, still experienced a high number of ergonomic-related injuries. The reason: they failed to incorporate safety into the continuous improvement process. The cost: $300,000 in medical payments and wages over a 24-month period on just one line. With help from their insurer, the company identified the problem and integrated safety into their lean system. A loss-source analysis identified where the injuries were happening and created a visual management piece (commonly used in lean processes) to illustrate the findings. The problem: excessive reaching on a single speed transmission assembly line was causing a high number of shoulder injuries. The cost: the injuries comprised more than half the company's total injury frequency and loss dollars. The company performed an ergonomic analysis to determine what percentage of the employees could perform the task without overexertion and found that only a very small percentage of women could do so. Workstation adjustment made a significant difference since more than half of the workers on the line were female.Speaking the language of productivity and waste reduction, the company's safety director presented these findings as part of the fact-finding session of the kaizen event. Then, together with the continuous process improvement group, the safety director identified other simple and effective ergonomic solutions to eliminate hazards and reduce waste. Solutions included the addition of more than 20 lift devices to reduce overexertion from materials handling (processing waste), and adjusting workstation and conveyer system height to optimal work heights to reduce excessive reaching (unnecessary motion). The rest of the week-long kaizen event was spent implementing the changes.In the eight months since the ergonomic changes were implemented, the company has had no shoulder injuries on the line. Based on this success, they expanded their 5S lean approach to include a 6th "S" for safety. The new 6S system includes a single event in the continuous improvement process dedicated to safety.The net result: quality improvements, productivity gains, better safety awareness, and a safer workplace

So a 6th S is good.

Now- a 7th S!
The 7th S is "Security."
And here's what a checklist might look like (according to Jim Bowie of the ASQ Six Sigma Forum:)

1. Are locking mechanisms present and operational on all entrance and exit points?
2. Is a security training plan documented and current?
3. Are all employees currently trained to the appropriate security level, as documented by the plan?
4. Is all computer access password-protected?
5. Are classified items stored in the appropriate area?
6. Is access to secured areas limited and controlled?
7. Is a security system, either manned or automated, in place for non-operational hours?
   

It's definitely food for thought. The author used 7S in an apparent military context. Maybe you could make your own 7th S stand for "Sustainability" or "Saving" or "Sterile."

As for me- I like the orginal 5S's. Can you imagine having a 14S program! At some point extra S's loose their meaning.

Maybe extra S's should be added to create visibility and awareness, but eventually should be folded back into the 4th S, Standardize.

But I'm not going to wrestle anybody over it, I'd be happy if everyone would get beyond the 3rd S!

Andy